Panera's RISE revamps summer menu to boost customer visits

As Panera's chief financial officer, Paul Carbone signed off on swapping 100% romaine for a romaine-and-iceberg mix in the summer of 2024 to save money. Now as chief executive he reversed that decision in June 2025, using the lettuce change as shorthand for a wider problem: years of small cost cuts, menu tweaks, and operational moves that, he says, chipped away at the experience customers remembered.

The company is rolling out a summer launch tied to its RISE strategy—refresh the menu, ignite value, serve guests with excellence, expand the network—with new shrimp-topped bowls, upgraded salads, bacon-and-cheese breakfast frittatas, frozen coffees, and fruit-forward beverages.

New items such as a Carnitas Elote bowl and the chain’s Mexican Street Corn Chowder are part of a menu overhaul intended to remind customers why they fell in love with Panera. Panera developed the plan after multiple years of negative same-store transactions.

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